


The Saren Case

by Mysti_Fogg



Series: Madelaine Shepard [2]
Category: Mass Effect (Comics), Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect - Various Authors, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, POV Garrus Vakarian, Pre-Canon, Pre-Mass Effect 1, Spacer (Mass Effect), War Hero (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 17:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18554134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysti_Fogg/pseuds/Mysti_Fogg
Summary: Junior Detective Garrus Vakarian is working on the Citadel when a new case comes in: A human spectre candidate has accused Saren Arterius, the greatest turian spectre to have ever lived, of murdering his own friend and protege Nihlus Kryik.It seems like a straightforward case of human ambition, but what will Garrus find as he digs deeper into the lives of his heroes?





	The Saren Case

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buried in the sand.

There are scents that cause even varren to give up their prey. The Chalcosian _chevesco_ flowers are said to be one of them. As orange as a krogan's eyes, as tall as a turian's crest, they dominate one room of the Gaeron Botanical Gardens with a scent that makes Garrus Vakarian feel as if both of his larynxes are on fire.

If it weren't a matter of duty, he wouldn't be here.

But it is. And so he's done his best to blend in both in terms of physical and social camouflage: He's wearing one of his best suits in multiple shades of green separated by a few blue panels. If he's noticed amongst the leaves of the trees, he'll hopefully bet taken for a well-heeled turian waiting for an equally upscale date.

Chellick's voice comes over the comm, "See anyone yet?"

"Two asari couples, a group of salarian tourists, and a volus killing time before his next business meeting. Could be anyone or someone who hasn't arrived yet." Both turians are eager to make this bust. For Garrus, it will be the culmination of yet another search for numbers in the spreadsheets turned into an arrest for selling black market goods. For Chellick, it will be another nail in the coffin of the human cartel that's been trying to set up shop in the wards. Take down another two, and he might even make executor if the chief ever decides to retire.

"Check. Everyone is in position. Signal your contact to make the drop."

Garrus checks the time on his omni-tool, endeavoring to look impatient for his non-existent date. Meanwhile, he pushes a button. 

A human shuffles forward. Despite the fact that it's often hard to judge other species, this man's brightest days are clearly in the past: his fringe has crumbled to nothing, his nose is crooked from too many punches and veined from too much drink, and two of his fingers refuse to curl all of the way closed. He flops down across a bench, shiftily dropping a plastic bag with a data stick full of credits into a nearby trashcan. 

The volus in the yellow suit from earlier waddles by, admiring the plants. His hand is too fast to record the moment when he takes the bait. Though there's an off chance he's an innocent bystander who will try to find the stick's owner ... Of course he isn't, but if C-Sec intervenes, that's what he'll claim. They need to get him after he makes the transfer: His hand on the Red Sand.

It's a good thing Garrus has trained in stillness. His heart hammers against his plates, longing to leap into action. 

The volus waits.

Finally, the round little man presses a button on his omni-tool. His suit spritzes a liquid at a nearby Niacalic _sprigi_ creeping vine. Garrus's visor identifies it as a mixture of ammonia and nitrogen. Some tendrils of the plant wave in the air while others dig into the soil, unearthing a canvas bag and plopping it down on the human's head, who snorts awake, wrapping an arm around it.

This is what they've been missing!

"Moving to intercept!" Garrus calls out to Chellick. The volus sees the seven-foot raptor descending upon him and freezes.

"No! Don't!" Chellick responds too late.

The volus's suit emits a high pitched squeal along with another burst of chemical mist. Suddenly a tentacle winds around Garrus's throat, pulling him off of the smaller man. He works his jaws apart and bites into the disgusting mass of green fiber, ripping as best he can with his front teeth until he can spread his mandibles and really tear into the plant.

The creature whips him around, tossing him into a wall while it bleeds a slimy green mess. The volus looks over his shoulder. _He's getting away. He's getting away!_ Garrus pulls out his pistol loaded with hammerhead rounds. He narrows his focus. 

The bullet is true to its mark, hitting the volus on the back of the neck and knocking him over. The two turian patrolmen assigned to back up on this duty finally come forward in their civilian garb and pick the small man up off his feet. "You're under arrest," states the senior one. As he launches into a rote statement of rights, Garrus can also hear his subtones discontentedly rumbling _Lousy kid. All this work and we're going to end up with nothing. How the hell did_ he _make detective before me?_

At the bench, Chellick has entered and is looking over the bag with Harkin. "The goods appear to be the real deal. Your payment will be deposited into your account and a mention of your assistance added to your file. Perhaps the executor will take it into consideration."

"Yeah. Right," grumbles the human bait. 

"If you would prefer _not_ to receive payment, that can also be arranged." _Though it would be unlike you,_ Chellick adds with distaste. Of course, the human can't hear the jibe.

"You know I need the money, Chellick."

"Detective Chellick," the turian corrects, _I still have the honor of a title_

"Detective Chellick," the human spits. 

The turian pulls out bag after bag and holds it up to the lighting. Red Sand ... cut with powdered bits of rock? "Good. As I said, the money will be there. You may go."  
Harkin slouches past Garrus. "Good work, kid," he says sarcastically. "You got the goods, but you got no case."

"And you've got no job."

"You keep this up, and that might be going around," he says before getting out of earshot. 

Chellick is repacking the bag with a shake of his head. "You did excellent work finding the discrepancy." _Truly impressive._ "But taking down a gang is a delicate operation. This isn't going to hold up in court. The volus will claim to be a do-gooder picking up a lost object and intending to take it to the ticket booth to return it." _It's going to take months to find another lead._

"But ... the bag. He had a plant trained to dig up a bag!"

"Or the plant stole someone's bag and dug it back up again."

"He squirted it with chemicals!"

"His suit was leaking."

Garrus's mandibles involuntarily spread as his jaw drops. He feels betrayed at his senior partner's dismissal. "He's as guilty as guilty gets!"

Chellick gives him a sympathetic look. "That's not how a court will see it. You made the wrong call when the original plan went bad and he didn't have the drugs on him. We can hold him for 48 hours, but eventually, his lawyer is going to turn up and make all of this go away because you didn't let him leave and deposit the money. Then, maybe, we could have traced not just his account, but found his boss's account and put a stop to this at its source." _You're too impatient._ "I don't know what Pallin is going to say after this and Saleon."

"That I never let my suspect get away," says Garrus drawing his head up proudly.

"That you have a lot to learn."

#

"Vakarian! My office! Now!"

No matter how much he tells himself that he did the right thing, Garrus is still nervous when Pallin calls him up to the embassy towers to discuss matters. The office alone, with its view of the Presidum's changing walkways rather than the dank, windowless rooms of C-Sec says everything about his power and status.

Garrus bows his head slightly. "Yes, executor. About earlier, I-"

"You have something to say about earlier?" _I'm too busy to sort out your petty problems with Chellick._ The executor fixes him with a yellow-eyed glare.

Perhaps the executor hasn't heard? A bit of hope sparks in his chest. Then he dismisses it. Of course Pallin knows. Pallin didn't get to be executor by not knowing. "Never mind, sir." _I'll take care of it._

Pallin silently looks him up and down and tosses a datapad down on the front of his desk. "I have your next case."

Garrus reaches for the file. "Whom will I be working with?"

"You'll be handling this one alone, Vakarian."

Garrus raises a browplate. His first case as sole detective. "I... I ... was not expecting that, sir." _I'm having trouble believing this._

"You have special qualifications," says Pallin. "I understand you underwent a few levels of spectre qualifications and have made an extensive study of most living spectres, their skills, and qualifications."

"It's a hobby of mine." _Probably a bit childish after I didn't make the cut._

 _Don't be embarrassed._ "Your knowledge may come in handy. Nihlus Kryik is dead."

"Kryik?" shock echoes through all levels of Garrus's voice. "But he's practically retired into mentorship. Why would anyone want to kill him _now,_?"

"It may be he's chosen the wrong pupil. The humans have put forward another candidate for spectre and he was running the evaluation. There's the possibility she didn't measure up." _You can't trust humans. They want too much too fast._

"I'll brush up on my human body language then. I'm sure I can figure out which one of them did it." _This can't be real._

"Good," says Pallin brusquely. "They're trying to paint another one of our own, Saren Arterius, as the killer." _It's the most ridiculous accusation I've heard since the First Contact War._ "The human ship arrives in three days. I want us to be prepared to arrest the guilty party when they dock."

 _Saren? Nihlus's closest confidant? How much more farfetched could you get?_ "I'll take care of it, executor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, while it's never mentioned that Chellick and Garrus worked together in the game, it made sense to me that they probably did because Chellick was staking out Fist's place for black market weapons and Garrus was also assigned to track the black market as he explains when talking about Dr. Saleon.
> 
> Harkin is in here because eventually he's going to tell Shep where Garrus is, and Harkin does not strike me as Garrus's pal, so trying to scrape by while suspended is why he's in touch with our favorite turian.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't currently keep a schedule, so I have no idea when I'll update this, but I need something to keep my mind busy when it wanders from real life, and apparently this is what it wants to think about right now.


End file.
